Saturday, September 24, 2011

This happened when Lupe Fiasco played at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland on September 16.

The vid below gives the wider context. It seems that a fan, waving the Palestinian flag, jumped up on stage during the performance of Lupe's "Beautiful Laser." As an impromptu gesture, Lupe took the flag and talked about the fact that the Palestinian leadership was going to the UN on September 23 to request UN membership. Lupe expressed his endorsement for the move, and then asked the fan if he could keep the flag. The crowd cheered Lupe's pro-Palestine sentiments, and booed when he mentioned the US intention of a veto.

Lupe Fiasco was spotted wearing kufiyas during the so-called "kufiya craze," and I (of course), blogged about it here, saying that unlike many kufiya-clad celebrities, Lupe was probably quite well informed about Palestine, and given that he is an (out) Muslim. His Palestine endorsement in Maryland last week certainly supports the point.

To quote the flag-waving fan: Long Live Palestine.

P.S. (added a few minutes later)

Will put me onto this, from Lupe Fiasco's song, "Words I Never Said":

Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I’m a part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful
And I believe in the people

And some more lines:

I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit
Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets...

And these, showing that Lupe will throw his criticisms fearlessly:

Now you can say it aint our fault if we never heard it
But if we know better than we probably deserve it
Jihad is not a holy war, where's that in the worship?
Murdering is not Islam!

And you are not observant
And you are not a Muslim
Israel don’t take my side cause look how far you’ve pushed them

About Me

Professor of Anthropology, University of Arkansas. Author of Memories of Revolt: The 1936-39 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past. Co-editor of Palestine, Israel and the Politics of Popular Culture and of Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity.